The case is another example of guns and mental illness intersecting in a country that struggles with both. Mauldin said Hendricks was consumed by a mental illness made worse through a childhood of abuse by both parents. In Simpson's case, prosecutors said there are clues that show while she was mentally ill, she knew what she was doing. Mauldin also was the defense lawyer for Hendricks, who prosecutors said killed her family for $700,000 in life insurance. Susan Hendricks, a woman with multiple personalities, pleaded guilty but mentally ill and received a life sentence for killing her two adult sons, her ex-husband and her stepmother.

Source: New Zealand Herald June 24, 2016 07:41 UTC